Equine Cardiology Essentials
Equine cardiac findings — murmurs, dysrhythmias, exercise intolerance — turn up routinely on wellness and pre-purchase exams, but separating an incidental finding from one that affects soundness, breeding, or rider safety is where most general practitioners lack a defensible framework. This 2-hour course delivers a structured approach to the equine cardiac examination, the diagnostics that confirm, and the prognostic conversations owners need. Taught by Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, BVMS, MS, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM) of the University of Minnesota, whose laboratory directs the largest ongoing research program on equine arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
Clinical Review Date: April 2026Provider ID #50-29055
CE Hours
2.0 Medical CE
Format
Live Webinar
Price
$95 (Standard)
Audience
DVMs & Technicians
Species
Equine
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Part of a Bundle
Equine Excellence Series
Advanced equine CE across ophthalmology, cardiology, genetics, and dentistry
$399
6 lectures • 14 CE hrs
Part of a Bundle
Equine Cardiology + Genetics Bundle
Cardiology Essentials + Genetics & Genomics with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, DACVIM (LAIM)
$160
2 lectures • 4 CE hrs
Practical Takeaways for Your Practice
Every session is built around cases you see in GP — leave with frameworks you can apply immediately.
The Cardiac Exam Every Equine GP Should Run
Auscultation at the left apex, left base, and right base, with a clear sense of what each point is actually telling you. Post-exercise auscultation for findings that only reveal themselves after work. Baseline ECG acquisition with lead placement that works on a 1200-pound patient. The three findings that separate 'monitor' from 'work up.'
Normal Variant vs. Clinically Relevant
Second-degree AV block that resolves with exercise (physiologic) vs. one that persists (abnormal). Innocent flow murmurs of young fit horses. The exercise arrhythmias that show up in ~50% of racing-fit Thoroughbreds. And the murmur grades (≥3/6 left, ≥4/6 right) that earn an echo referral.
The Cardiac Diseases That Drive Decisions
Atrial fibrillation (pathogenesis, quinidine vs. transvenous electrical cardioversion, reversion rates, reoccurrence). Mitral and aortic valvular regurgitation, including how severity changes soundness and breeding decisions. Ventricular arrhythmias and their association with sudden cardiac death. Congenital disease (VSD, tetralogy). What actually happens at referral and when it changes management.
What to Tell the Owner
Realistic prognostic language for each disease category. The conversations that prevent the $15k workup for a horse that's not going to be rideable either way, and the conversations that catch the structural disease that would have killed a rider.
Course Abstract
Live Online Interactive Webinar • Case-Based • Sponsor-Free
Most equine practitioners can auscult a murmur. Fewer are comfortable telling a client whether it means anything. That confidence gap is the target of this course.
Dr. Durward-Akhurst's 2-hour course gives equine practitioners a defensible way to sort incidental cardiac findings from the ones that change the horse's future. Part one runs the cardiac exam the way she teaches it at UMN: physical, auscultation points and what's actually at each, resting and post-exercise evaluation, and a baseline ECG you can acquire with portable telemetry. Part two is the disease tour: atrial fibrillation (15 to 20% of poor-performance horses vs. 0.4 to 1% of healthy), mitral and aortic regurgitation, ventricular arrhythmias, congenital disease. With the diagnostics that confirm, the treatments that actually move the needle (quinidine conversion protocols, transvenous electrical cardioversion, management of valvular disease), and the prognostic conversations owners deserve before they sink another $20k into a horse.
Session Agenda
Live Q&A after every topic.
Cardiac examination of the horse
Important cardiac diseases in the horse
Curriculum Overview
Two 1-hour lectures. 2.0 CE hours.
01. Cardiac Examination of the Horse
1.0 HourThe complete equine cardiac exam in ambulatory and clinic settings. Physical findings including jugular distension and pulsation, mucous membrane assessment, and arterial pulse quality. Auscultation at the three primary points, resting vs. post-exercise, what normal-for-a-horse actually sounds like. ECG acquisition with base-apex leads, P-QRS-T interpretation for the GP, and the rhythm findings that change management. The framework Durward-Akhurst uses to decide when handheld diagnostics are enough vs. when to refer for echocardiography (30 to 35 cm depth probes required in adults) or 24-hour Holter monitoring.
- Perform a complete equine cardiac physical exam at rest and post-exercise
- Identify common equine murmurs and arrhythmias by auscultation point and timing
- Acquire and interpret a baseline equine ECG in field or clinic
- Decide when findings warrant echocardiography, Holter, or specialist referral
02. Important Cardiac Diseases in the Horse
1.0 HourAtrial fibrillation. Epidemiology in poor-performance horses, lone AF vs. AF with structural disease, quinidine sulfate conversion protocols and monitoring, transvenous electrical cardioversion, reversion rates, and recurrence. Valvular regurgitation (mitral and aortic) and how echocardiographic findings shape soundness and breeding decisions. Ventricular arrhythmias in performance horses and their association with sudden cardiac death. Congenital disease. Cardiac biomarkers (cTnI). What the prognosis conversation actually looks like by disease and severity.
- Recognize the clinical presentations of the equine cardiac diseases that drive decisions
- Select the right diagnostic next step for a suspected arrhythmia or murmur
- Describe conversion, management, and surgical options for atrial fibrillation and valvular disease
- Counsel owners on soundness, breeding, and rider-safety implications
What's Included
Live Q&A
Ask questions in real time
Digital Notes
Downloadable lecture PDFs
Recording Access
Re-watch at your own pace
CE Certificate
RACE-approved, instant download
Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, BVMS, MS, PhD, DACVIM (LAIM)
Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst earned her B.V.M.S. With Commendation from the University of Glasgow (2009) before completing a Large Animal Internal Medicine residency at the University of Minnesota, where she became a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (Large Animal) in 2016. She subsequently earned an MS (2016) and PhD (2020) in Comparative and Molecular Biosciences at Minnesota, with doctoral research focused on tools for precision medicine in the horse. Now an Assistant Professor of Genetics, Genomics, and Large Animal Internal Medicine in the Veterinary Clinical Sciences Department, Dr. Durward-Akhurst leads a research program at the intersection of equine cardiology and genomics. Her work investigates the genetic and transcriptomic basis of sudden cardiac death, cardiac arrhythmias, and atrial fibrillation in Thoroughbred racehorses, with translational implications for sudden arrhythmic death in human athletes. She holds funding from the American Heart Association, Morris Animal Foundation, and the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority.
View Full Faculty BioFrequently Asked Questions
Stop Guessing at the Equine Heart
All tiers include 2.0 CE credits, digital notes, and recording access.
If your schedule changes, you'll still have access to the recording and notes.
Order by May 18 to receive printed lecture notes
Saturday, May 30, 2026 — 11:00 AM CDT
Standard
- 2.0 Hours Live CE
- Interactive Q&A with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst
- Digital Lecture Notes (PDF)
- Session Recording Access
- Official CE Certificate
- Printed Lecture Notes Mailed to You
Equine Excellence Series
Advanced equine CE across ophthalmology, cardiology, genetics, and dentistry
Full series • 14 CE hours • 6 lectures • 3 specialists
- 12-month VetOnIt subscription
- Printed lecture notes shipped
- Commemorative enamel pin (first 100 enrollees)
Includes this lecture plus 5 others
Equine Cardiology + Genetics Bundle
Cardiology Essentials + Genetics & Genomics with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst, DACVIM (LAIM)
Full series • 4 CE hours • 2 lectures • 1 specialists
- Both cardiology + genetics lectures
- 12-month on-demand access to recordings
- RACE-approved CE certificates
Includes this lecture plus 1 other
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We make group enrollment simple. One person handles the payment — we take care of everything else.
Email us
Send us the number of attendees at support@vetonitce.org
Pay once
We'll send you a single payment link for the whole group at the 30% discount.
We handle the rest
We'll reach out to each team member to complete their registration, send Zoom links, and deliver individual CE certificates after the lecture.
No forms to fill out, no juggling multiple payments. Just email us and we'll set it up for you.
Prefer self-service? Use our online group checkout form.
Every registrant gets full on-demand access — including registrants who enroll mid-lecture or after it airs. Live attendance earns CE automatically; on-demand viewing earns CE after a short quiz.
Printed Lecture Notes & Clinical Resources — Mailed to Your Door
For a limited time, get printed lecture notes and clinical reference guides from this course — delivered straight to your clinic or home. Enroll by May 18 to ensure your materials arrive before lecture day.
- Printed lecture notes included
- Clinical reference guides included
- Mailed directly to your door
- Limited time — available through Monday, May 18
Offer expires Monday, May 18 at Midnight
Stop Guessing at the Equine Heart
Two hours with Dr. Sian Durward-Akhurst on the cardiac exam and the diseases that decide whether a horse goes back to work, back to breeding, or back to the trailer. Bundle with Equine Genetics & Genomics the same afternoon for 4.0 CE on May 30.